reluctant

English

Etymology

From Latin reluctans, present participle of reluctare, reluctari (“to struggle against, oppose, resist”), from re- (“back”) + luctari (“to struggle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈlʌktənt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

reluctant (comparative more reluctant, superlative most reluctant)

1. (now rare) Opposing; offering resistance (to).
   • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.108:

     There, breathless, with his digging nails he clung / Fast to the sand, lest the returning wave, / From whose reluctant roar his life he wrung, / Should suck him back to her insatiate grave [...].

   • 2008, Kern Alexander et al., The World Trade Organization and Trade in Services, p. 222:

     They are reluctant to the inclusion of a necessity test, especially of a horizontal nature, and emphasize, instead, the importance of procedural disciplines [...].

2. Not wanting to take some action; unwilling.

   She was reluctant to lend him the money

Synonyms

• unwilling, disinclined

Translations

not wanting to take some action

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: неохотен (bg) (neohoten)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不情願 (zh), 不情愿 (zh) (bùqíngyuàn)

• Czech: neochotný, zdráhající se
• Dutch: aarzelend (nl)
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: haluton (fi), vastahakoinen (fi)
• French: réservé (fr), réfractaire (fr), rétif (fr), récalcitrant (fr), réticent (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: zögernd (de), widerwillig (de)
• Hungarian: kelletlen (hu)
• Indonesian: enggan (id)
• Interlingua: reluctante
• Irish: aimhleasc, aimhleisciúil, deacair, dochma, drogallach, iarmhartach, leasc, leisciúil, mífhonnmhar, náir, neamhfhonnmhar, neamhthoilteanach, támáilte
• Italian: riluttante (it)
• Khmer: រអាដៃ (rɔ’aa day), អល់អែក (km) (ɑl-aek)
• Latin: invītus

• Manx: neuarryltagh, neuwooiagh
• Maori: whakawhēuaua, manauhea, whakakumu, horokukū, whakauaua
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: motvillig (no)

  Nynorsk: motvillig, motviljug

• Persian: بی‌میل (bi-meyl)
• Polish: niechętny (pl)
• Portuguese: relutante (pt)
• Romanian: reticent, precaut, prevăzător (ro)
• Russian: неохо́тный (ru) (neoxótnyj)
• Scots: sweer, sweirt, laith
• Scottish Gaelic: aindeònach, leisg
• Spanish: renuente (es), reacio, reluctante
• Swedish: motvillig (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: isteksiz (tr), gönülsüz (tr), hevessiz (tr)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

Related terms

• reluctance
• reluctantly

Further reading

• reluctant in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• reluctant in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• reluctant at OneLook Dictionary Search